Incantatum
by teria
Summary: The story of the developing relationships of Lily Evans, Severus Snape, and James Potter -- plus, the Marauders -- from their 5th Hogwarts year, onward. Chapter 3 uploaded! Reviews appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
  
Incantatum  
  
By Laura/Teria (elineryn@yahoo.com)  
  
Disclaimer: It should be obvious -- I don't own any of this. It's purely for entertainment.  
  
Author's notes can be found at http://pages.sbcglobal.net/elineryn/fanfiction/.  
  
Archiving is allowed, with permission (I'll give it, I just want to know where it's going).  
Also, the story will be filed at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marauders-era-fanworks/.  
  
With thanks to Ala, my beta.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
** The vast ceiling of the Great Hall, bewitched to reflect the outside sky, revealed an azure expanse spotted here and there with thin, cottony clouds. Lily Evans, a pretty, studious Gryffindor fourth-year, sat more or less alone in the Hall; but for a few scattered clumps of students at their respective house tables and a handful of teachers at theirs, the Hall was empty. It appeared that most of the students were outside, enjoying the weather during the morning break.  
  
And, Lily was just fine on her own, thank you kindly.  
  
Actually, she rather liked the quiet, as she normally had to deal with the endless chatter of her fellow female Gryffindors...  
  
Not that she minded them, of course -- she was pretty laid back, after all, and though she was softspoken, enjoyed occaisional conversation -- but she didn't realize how much she relished the silence until she actually had it...  
  
And this was the perfect opportunity to open her just-delivered mail in peace.  
  
Hmm...one letter and a smallish package from her mother. She opened the letter first, carefully slipping her finger under the seal of the envelope. Father and Petunia were doing fine, her mother wrote, and she promised to send a bit of spending money with the next letter for the next excursion to Hogsmeade.  
  
Lily loved her parents very much. They had warmed remarkably well to the idea of Lily's attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her marks had always been excellent, but after she first received her letter of acceptance, they became even more enthusiastic about her schooling; it was a passion she shared with them.  
  
Her sister Petunia, though, had never been fond of school at all, preferring instead to spend her time chatting on the telephone with her few friends or sleeping. In fact, Petunia had spent most of her summer break doing just that. Lily had spent hers reviewing her summer homework and skimming over her newly acquired textbooks; she'd been looking forward to the beginning of the first term of her as a chance to finally begin preparing seriously for her O.W.L.s.  
  
Lily pushed a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear and carefully loosened the string binding the paper of the accompanying package, revealing a tiny metal tin stacked neatly to the brim with sugar cookies. She sent up a silent prayer of thanks that her Muggle parents weren't like some of the more eccentric parents from wizarding families.  
  
Just the day before, one boy had received by owl post a package that had burst into song when the unfortunate young wizard had lifted the lid. Lily hadn't been able to catch all of the words of the song due to the dense laughter of the other students, but the box appeared to be extolling, in a rich baritone tenor, the virtues of a healthy lifestyle through diet and moderate exercise.  
  
The box had been stuffed with magically shrunken heads of lettuce, which began to expand as soon as the song had finished. One of the boy's house members had knocked the box over while slapping his hand on the table energetically, causing the bloated heads to roll all over the floor. The teachers, trying to bring some order to the student body, helped to gather the still-growing vegetables together, and the boy, red-faced, had tried to cram them back in, but the box burst into song again (this time, warning about the dangers of not taking your vitamins). The boy, mortified, had gathered the veggies in his robes and, leaving the box behind, dashed out of the Hall.  
  
Someone's pet rabbit, Lily was sure, was feeling _very_ satiated right now.  
  
Her mother's letter also contained a photograph (no movement, of course), of the family in front of the newly blooming rosebush in the garden. Her parents grinned happily, and Petunia looked sour, stuffed into tight pants and a shirt that didn't suit her.  
  
But then again, Lily mused, when did Petunia not look sour?  
  
She smiled and tucked the photograph into her notebook. The Hogwart's owl had also delivered a copy of the Daily Prophet, which she now unrolled.  
  
_ENCHANTED SPIDER MONKEY ESCAPES FROM MUGGLE ZOO; FOUND LEVITATING, PLAYING WITH CHILDREN IN NEARBY VILLAGE_, one headline announced. The rest of the articles weren't much better; at least the advertisements were always good for a chuckle, but even they could wait for later. Lily started to roll the Prophet into a tube, but just then, a tiny square of parchment fluttered out of the pages and landed on the floor just to her right. She leaned down and grasped it in her fingers, flipping it over.  
  
_Look up!_ it read.  
  
Lily, still bent over, raised her head -- and was smacked precisely in the middle of the forehead by an airborne cream-filled pastry puff.  
  
  
  
** ----------------------------------  
  
TBC.  
  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
  
Incantatum  
  
By Laura/Teria (elineryn@yahoo.com)  
  
----------------------------------  
  
** Lily sat bolt upright in surprise.  
  
The puff bounced off of her forehead and rolled to a stop a few inches from her foot. She was so startled that as she instinctively reached out to catch it she experienced only a brief flash of coherent thought ("Wha--?") before her fingers closed around it and she realized that it was little more than a poorly transfigured cotton ball.  
  
Too bad whomever was responsible was trying to pull a prank...otherwise, she'd have been more than willing to give them extra help with their lessons in that particular subject. She was just thankful that she hadn't been fooled into trying to eat it. Wouldn't _that_ have been something to laugh about?  
  
And speaking of which...looking down the table, Lily spotted the not-unexpected cluster of fifth-year Gryffindor boys. She should have been anticipating it, really. Whenever those four got together, someone nearby almost always was on the receiving end of a prank.  
  
She rolled her eyes. If it wasn't obvious from their reputation that those boys had done it, it was quite clear from their miserably failing attempts to keep the grins off of their faces.  
  
On one side of the house table sat little Peter Pettigrew - out of all of the boys in her House, Lily knew him the least. If she was shy, Peter was downright reclusive. He seemed to avoid completely conversation in the common room, preferring instead the sole company of the tight-knit clique the boys had formed. Little Peter, just now, was trying to cover up his laughing by coughing into his hand, but gave up the pretense altogether when he began to choke, his face turning bright red with his effort to regain his breath. Actually, Lily realized, studying his face, she hardly knew him at all...quite unusual, for a year as close and intimately friendly as theirs had turned out to be.  
  
At the table next to Peter was Sirius Black. Though their class was only in their fifth year, Sirius had already gained a reputation for being "datable" - a fun person, but without any inclination toward commitment.  
  
Lily suspected that, although all of his relationships ended with "just friends," the females ended up disappointed. At least, according to her dorm-mates, each of them dreamt of being the one girl to settle him down. Post-relationship, they generally either flirted madly with him afterwards, having deemed him "harmless", or treated him with a distanced friendliness that was more civil than sociable. He, however, maintained the same charming joviality as ever.  
  
At this particular moment, Sirius was giving Peter a good solid clap to the back to stop his coughing, while at the same time leaning over the table and whispering quite conspiratorially to the boy facing him. Remus Lupin had joined their class just after the start of the first term of their first year at Hogwart's. He was quieter than the other three, seeming less an instigator of pranks than an enthusiastic observer of their results. Lily knew, however, that it was probably more a case of Remus' merely gauging their success and failure rates to determine which jokes were the best to reuse. Either way, she liked him quite a bit; he fairly radiated kindness, and always had something funny but nice to say to her in class.  
  
But really, their entire first year had been full of new experiences, although they, being new also, hadn't known until the upperclassmen had filled them in. The most significant of these by far was the promotion of Albus Dumbledore, a former Transfiguration teacher, to the position of Hogwarts Headmaster. Right now, he was absent from his spot at the head table, but normally he presided over the Great Hall like a kind sovereign, often conveniently engaging himself in conversation just in time to miss the hijinks of the Gryffindor Four.  
  
Oh, my. That group was _always_ prowling around together. If they could just be separated, maybe Lily would have a chance to get to know them, but even her normal confidence faltered when all four were together. There was just something overwhelming about all of that camaraderie, the way it must feel when you're facing an opposing team on the sports field and you just _know_ you're outnumbered and outmatched.  
  
Or, maybe...maybe it was the presence of the group's fourth member, James Potter.  
  
Where Sirius was brash bordering on recklessness, confident to the point of arrogant, or quick-tongued at the risk of offense, James seemed always to not only keep him in check but to bolster and support him, while steering him away from behaviors causing those less than desirable effects.  
  
And besides, Lily had never really been one to go for the "bad boy" persona. She'd leave that for her classmates and her sister, and when they were whining about their failed relationships, she'd be snuggling up close to her sweetheart and nodding complacently. Yes, dear. Yes, I'm sure he's evil. Yes, all men are. Mm-hmm.  
  
But it's not like Lily would have any knowledge of that...  
  
Despite being fairly popular with her Housemates, and even students outside of that nucleus, she'd never had a boyfriend before, and hadn't until recently even considered it. Her friends were always going on about this boy or that, but that kind of thing had never really interested her. What's the point of a relationship if you already know you're just going to break it off later? And besides, although her parents had never actually discouraged her from it, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't be too happy if she suddenly started bringing boys home over the holidays.  
  
Yes...she hadn't, "until recently," considered it.  
  
"Recently", meaning the train ride to Hogwarts earlier that month. She had known she'd been appointed to the position of Prefect since receiving an owl earlier that summer, but hadn't known who the other Prefect was until she had boarded the shiny apple-red Hogwarts Express and opened the sliding glass door of the special compartment at the end of the train.  
  
James Potter had looked up from his book, over the rim of his glasses and grinned, a kind of half-smile that showed a little bit of tooth.  
  
The kind of smile that made her knees turn weak.  
  
She gave him what she hoped was a smile (her head was spinning, and she really couldn't tell) as she pulled her trunk into the compartment. He stood, making a movement to help her, but she managed to not only step on his foot but also to elbow him in the stomach as she tried to stand up straight.  
  
"Sorry!" she'd said, blushing furiously to the very roots of her hair.  
  
He'd smiled. "It's fine," he said. He had placed a hand on her elbow (it seemed that for some reason, she was still standing frozen in the doorway of the compartment), gently moving her forward before pulling her trunk in and shutting the door. She sat down on the seat opposite his, trying to compose herself, but her heart just wouldn't stop fluttering.  
  
"How was your summer?" he'd asked.  
  
She'd nodded (too quickly, she thought - why couldn't she just get control of herself? Ugh, what must he be thinking?) before answering. "It was alright. Yours?"  
  
He'd grinned again before launching into a fairly detailed description of how he spent his entire summer practicing Quidditch on the sly (as he couldn't let himself get out of practice), and Lily was grateful for the time it afforded her to collect herself.  
  
The rest of the conversation wasn't much more scintillating, but once she'd gotten a grip on herself, they'd had a pleasant chat that lasted from the Hogsmeade platform all the way to the front doors of Hogwarts. She'd even managed to crack a few jokes, and he'd laughed appreciatively. At the doors, he'd met up with Sirius, Remus and Peter, and her own friends had pulled her away to their little huddle, but not before he could wave goodbye to her. She'd smiled shyly back.  
  
She felt a kind of tightening in her chest, an upwelling of some emotion she couldn't quite name. Excitement, maybe? Perhaps, but it was much more personal than a mere rush of adrenaline. Whatever it was, it made her want to shout and flail her arms around, but she managed, somehow, to keep her composure.  
  
But oh, how she longed to wrap her fingers around one of the hot buttered biscuits on the table before her and just fling it at one of their heads, but her duty as a Prefect required her to act in a manner befitting. . .  
  
Wait a second.  
  
Her duty as a Prefect.  
  
Oh, no! The first Prefect's meeting of the month! And she was going to be _late_!  
  
Lily grabbed her things from the table and was in the process of stuffing them into her bag when she noticed that James, too, had apparently lost track of the time, as he was now in the process of waving his wand over what looked suspiciously like another cotton ball, the others gathered around him closely.  
  
She slung her bag over her shoulder, stood up straight (head up, shoulders back, come on, now) and walked herself over to the four boys. She stood for a moment before Sirius looked up.  
  
"Hey, Lils, whatcha want?" he drawled. Lils? Ha, and he hardly knew her. She felt her face heat up as three other pairs of eyes swiveled toward her, but she met and held James' gaze.  
  
"Er," she said. "We're late, you know." She nodded, more for her own reassurance than anyone elses', but when she noticed the (charmingly) blank look on his face, her resolve hardened. "The Prefects' meeting?" she said. "The first one of the month?" Realization dawned, and she glanced at the roof of the Hall, gauging the sun. "Coming, then?"  
  
  
  
** ----------------------------------  
  
TBC.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
  
Incantatum  
  
By Laura/Teria (elineryn@yahoo.com)  
  
----------------------------------  
  
** A flash of red hair, a swish of school robes, and she was suddenly directly in his line of vision. He'd been laughing with his eyes closed, head thrown back, feeling that euphoria when your body overrides your mind for that single moment and you're just shaking, and then he opened his eyes and almost choked. His face was surely flushed and his hair was tousled (not that this was any surprise, as it was always out of control -- he'd given up on it long ago) but it suddenly (why?) mattered and that made him blush even more deeply than before.  
  
"Coming then?" she said, but he was already standing up, throwing his books into his bag. He grinned sheepishly at her and she smiled demurely back, and marched off down the length of the Great Hall at his side. His heart pounded in his chest, caught between the anxiety of being next to Her, and that familiar misbehavior-triggered rush of adrenaline, still hot in his bloodstream.  
  
As they picked their way through the Hogwarts corridors, James tried to think of something to say. Something, that is, that would make him seem less like the utter prat he felt himself to be at that moment.  
  
He could barely draw a breath without inhaling the exhilarating scent of her hair. How could he possibly be expected to converse logically?  
  
Luckily, though, he was rescued from his thoughts by Lily's sudden halt.  
  
"Oh, no!" she cried, wrinkling her nose. "They've gone visiting again!" James blinked, confused.  
  
Lily gave a small, defeated sigh. "The portrait," she said, pointing ahead of them. "We're supposed to give the girls the password, but now I've _no_ idea what to do."  
  
James recognized the painting ahead as being one of a veritable Shangri-la of rest and relaxation. It featured a secluded valley in a range of towering blue-purple mountains, tall pines on either side of a lushly sweeping expanse of grass. Rocks in the foreground gave the portrait's occupants a bit of privacy as they changed for a swim in the still pools of an otherwise torrential river just to the right of the trees.  
  
Those occupants were a set of longhaired, long-legged girls that were forever in motion. When not swimming, they frolicked in the grass and basked in the sun, obviously invigorated by the chill air of the mountains, but, as the painting was perpetually sunny, they were never made uncomfortable by bothersome weather. When the girls became bored, they often made discourse with the deer, birds and other animals of the forest, revealing a little bit of what James thought of as their "Natural witchery".  
  
James approached the painting, peering into it. The background revealed sweeping fields of wildflowers in full bloom, stirred delicately by the wind, but the girls were nowhere to be found. "Hello!" he called, and his voice echoed back to him: "Hello...hello...hello..." He took a step back, studying the picture.  
  
"About where in the school are we?" he asked suddenly.  
  
Lily thought for a moment. "Er, I think we're almost under Professor McGonagall's office, actually. There's a hallway behind the portrait, and the room it leads to should be directly beneath it."  
  
James grinned, "I know another way." Lily looked anxious, so he hurriedly added, "It's better to be a little bit late than to not show up at all, anyway."  
  
Lily nodded, exhaling. "Well, where are we going, then?"  
  
"It's a surprise. Follow me."  
  
  
  
A few turning corridors and large round antechambers later, Lily and James emerged into what appeared to be a small receiving room, the walls lined with tapestries depicting various wizard musicians. James made his way over to a trio of harpists, and Lily held her breath. What could be behind it? At Hogwarts, one never could tell. It could be anything, really, from a deeply winding, damp roughly carved tunnel, to an opulent, plush-lined gold-veined marble corridor. He grabbed the edge and pulled it back, revealing...  
  
...a stone wall.  
  
Lily raised one eyebrow. "Er, are you sure this is the right tapestry?"  
  
James merely raised his wand with over exaggerated movements, as if conducting a symphony, and tapped one of the bricks three times. Part of the wall seemed to fade away, revealing a dark, narrow passage. Warily, Lily peered inside, eyes wide. Past the few steps illuminated by the soft light of the room, she could see nothing but inky blackness.  
  
"I thought they were only rumors," she murmured. James stepped past her, into the darkness, and turned back. "Rumors?"  
  
"Oh," she said, flustered. "The girls...I mean, they talked about secret passageways, and I know all about Hogwarts' tendency to, well...you know, change...but I didn't think anyone actually _used_ them..." she trailed off. "Is it...safe?" James grinned. "It's perfectly safe," he told her. _At least,_ he thought fervently, _With me to take care of you._  
  
Dare he?  
  
Steeling his nerves, he extended his hand to her. "C'mon, I'll help you through. It takes a couple of sharp turns, and we can't put on a light, anyway. It might attract attention in some of the rooms we're going to pass."  
  
Lily felt her ears get hot and her heartbeat speed as she realized what he was asking. How could she refuse? Taking a timid step forward, Lily grasped his fingers gently with her own and allowed the tapestry to fall behind her, plunging them into complete darkness.  
  
  
  
At first, Lily used her right hand to guide her along the wall, keeping her grip on James' hand light as they hurried down the corridor. She could tell that the large stones were large and rectangular, smooth and cool to the touch, and placed in the wall at regular intervals. The sudden drop-off caught her completely off guard.  
  
She'd been slightly resting her weight against them and the sudden absence caused her to pull sharply on James, gasping as she tried to keep her footing. Aided by quick reflexes honed on the Quidditch pitch, he quickly compensated by tightening his grip and by reaching out in the darkness to support her other arm as she stood straight again. "Are you alright?" he whispered urgently. She nodded, but realizing he couldn't see her, whispered, "Yes." "Good. We'll have to be especially quiet for a few moments, but after that we'll be through." He squeezed her hand reassuringly and drew her along, leaving Lily lightheaded, hoping her palms didn't sweat excessively.  
  
As the pair inched along the dark tunnel, Lily could hear fragments of a lecture given by -- who was it? It must be Professor Williams, his classroom was in this area of the building, if she hadn't grossly miscalculated their position. As James led her past the area, the voice grew more and more faint, but she thought she caught the word "moth" and decided that, knowing the man's love of entomology, her assumption had been correct.   
  
James pulled Lily to the far right passage of a twice-branching corridor, and he could see the faintly outlined rectangle of light that signified the end of their journey. He suppressed a sigh, the origins of which he couldn't quite explain, and pointed it out to Lily, whose face was becoming barely visible in the dim light.   
  
"Oh," she said, and he thought (hoped?) that he heard a note of disappointment in her voice.  
  
They reached the tapestry and James reached across to draw it aside, letting Lily emerge before him. Lily turned to him, giving him a sweet smile. "Well, that certainly was fun, wasn't it?"   
  
"I'd imagine so," drawled a coldly sarcastic voice. "But I'm sure that Professor McGonagall would be more interested to hear about it."  
  
James narrowed his eyes slightly. "Nice to see you too, Severus," he muttered.   
  
  
**----------------------------------  
  
TBC.**


End file.
